The rantings of a bookaholic over a cup of coffee

A review of Holly(Woods) by Naomi Laeuchli

Holly(Woods)

In the first book of the Holly(Woods) series, Holly has moved to Los Angeles in hopes of pursuing a film career. When she’s cast in a small role on a popular TV show things start to look up, but she soon learns the world of Hollywood is a difficult one to navigate and not everyone can be trusted.

With the help of Evelyn Martin, a faded starlet, and Peter Glades, a man with a past he’s desperate to keep hidden, Holly tries to learn the ropes and deal with the politics of fame that follows her budding relationship with Hollywood heartthrob Alan Ryder.

But just as Holly starts to find her footing, a dark secret from the past threatens to destroy everything she has worked for.

My review:

Well, I should start by saying that this is not the type of book that I would have picked to read. First of all I’m not a big fan of clean and sweet romance stories and second there is nothing about Hollywood or the movie star world that appeals to me. I don’t read tabloids and admit to my ignorance in not knowing most current movie stars, and by that I mean their names, faces, their lives or what films they have featured in. But yesterday I received an e-mail from Naomi Laeuchli saying that she was a debut author and if I would read her first book, I was surprised and replied that I would (obviously) otherwise you wouldn’t be reading the review. Since I said yes I have a responsibility to the author and fans of the genre to review this book not on my personal taste for books but in fairness to the author’s work.

Holly Woods is a sweet and down to earth character and my first thought was that she would be eaten alive in the real Hollywood, although I liked her a lot throughout the whole book. She is refreshing in a healthy way and sometimes it’s just nice to come across a character like this. Then there are the men in her life, Alan and Peter and they too have their appeal and are interesting. There was the parallel story of Alan’s neighbour Niki Steele and her paparazzo manager Clint, I’m not sure if their story and lives will eventually link to Holly, Alan and Peter’s although the connection has been established but that part of the story felt a little ‘lost’ to me in this book.

Evelyn for me was one of the more fun characters, what is a book without a cynical and ‘I don’t give a damn’ character in it?

What to expect? Well you can expect a well and clean written romance. No typos, no grammar hiccups and decent dialogue.

What I hope to see in the next book? Towards the end there is a bit of a plot developing, I hope to see that fully developed and assume that if the author does choose to follow on the how she ended it will change the direction of the story. I would also like to see some sense to the presence of Niki and Clint in the first book.

Overall, if you are looking for a decent sex free read you should definitely grab this book, it’s entertaining.